10/7/17 Time to get wet & move on

  Back again , things have moved on a bit lately , but first - before leaving Lake Awoonga , we first had to go for a paddle in the kayak .
 The wind was coming straight into us from the south , but looked to be easing a bit so we headed straight into it and crossed the lake . We spotted a sea eagle and a brown kite sitting on the branches of some dead trees .

 The stone & gravel here are really sharp and hard , wouldn't be good in bare feet .

 All the dead trees made for some good photos , here they are .

Lost my passenger for a minute or 2 .

 We found some pelicans having a rest .

 How about a mysterious floating tree - photoshopped ???? no chance of that , wouldn't know where to start with that !!

 The joy of having 2 cameras , Lyn gets to take photos as well .

 The winds gradually changed around as we paddled around , and of course was headwind for the entire paddle - Murphy's Law right !!! It was still a great paddle in nice clear water and it wasn't overly cold either , fishing boats buzzed around regularly and we also saw huge flock of black darters ( cormorants ) - there must have been over 2 hundred of them !!!!
 With the paddle back to the ute completed , and the shoulders telling us so , we dried and loaded everything and headed back for some lunch . An easy afternoon followed , ready for the drive to Rockhampton on Tuesday 4/7/17

 Tuesday arrived with a very heavy dew , everything was soaked outside and took a little bit longer to dry , although not completely - the awning was still very wet , but we had to go so it stayed wet .
  There's lot's of road work south of Rockhampton at the moment and it was banking the traffic up quite a bit in both directions .
  We arrived at Rocky and headed out to our friends - Garry & Linda's place about 14klms out of town , and then it all started - let's put it this way , we exercised our vocal cords for the rest of the afternoon and evening catching up on the news & goss . And that's what happened for the next few days as well . We did leave the property once or twice , going for a drive down to Port Alma south of Rocky , where there is a port and salt mine , and a fuel and gas depot , a boat ramp and not a lot else . From there we headed back to Emu Park to the causeway for some fish & chips for lunch .
  Saturday I played golf at Rocky , it was their 3rd day of their club championships . The course is a bit longer than I've been used to , but didn't really worry me too much . There are a few natural hazards , with a lot of water / lagoons to negotiate , as well as the passing planes coming & going from the airport - they seemed to be very close .
  Sunday we headed back into Rocky and went to the botanic gardens , it was going to be interesting as we'd been here 8 years before . Things have certainly grown a bit in that time , and it had also survived a few cyclones as well . We went down to the lake first - look closely at the photo and you'll see some ducks , look closer and you'll see lots of turtles - they are the little bumps in the water - there were hundreds of them - we've never seen that many fresh water turtles before !!

 There's a frangipani roundabout -

 There's a cactus garden with many different types and some flowering -

 There are many paved walkways leading you through all the different sections , we headed back up to the Japanese Garden for a look .

There are some old cycads amongst everything else .

 Another flowering cactus -

 And you can't miss the Indian Sausage Tree -

 We must have got a bit close to this birds nest , as it got a bit animated when we sat down on a chair .

  That's all for Sunday , apart from saying our farewells to Garry & Linda , as we're heading off in the morning . It always a bit bittersweet , we enjoy each others company very much , so leaving is always that little bit disappointing .

 Today , Monday , we packed up & hitched up , heading north again . Carmilla is todays destination for a day or 2 before we go to Mackay .
 Here's a map link :-  https://drive.google.com/open?id=1CBHtohRjxyfH8eKeUMexHYACsnU&usp=sharing

2/7/17 Bundy & onwards

   A few days behind the scene’s , but here we go again . Not too much happening , Thursday , we went to inquire about a new phone at Woolworths - yes Woolworths - they use Telstra !!! and for $20 less a month and another $20 back in credit on our rewards card , how could you refuse ??? 

  Phone tucked away , we headed to the botanic garden for lunch .The garden has a road that runs around it’s system of ponds , lakes & displays . Stopping near the fig tree chapel , we wandered across to Hinkler’s Aviation Hall - a tribute to Bundaberg’s famous son and aviator . His house in England has been pulled down , transported , and rebuilt here . It’s a double storey very small house , and you can look through it after you’ve looked in the museum . It overlooks a rose garden and some of the lakes of the gardens . This plant was flowering .

  We entered & paid and headed into the main attraction - the Avro Pup that he set world records with for distance & economy at the time , and also flew from Sydney to Bundaberg creating another record for distance , landing it the foundry green , then taxied the plane up the road to his families house , parking the plane in the front yard .

His life story was there for everyone to read and watch , it started with his fascination for flight . He built his own glider , and flew it near Mon Repos Beach - coincidentally , he named his house Mon Repos , this is a recreation of the glider .

 He went on to bigger and better things and ended up in England to work in the fledgling aviation industry . He was a talented designer / inventor and pilot , who also enlisted in the Royal Air Force in WW1 , eventually flying some missions at the end of the war . He was a bit disillusioned by the war and all that it stood for , his love was for flying and designing . This is one that he designed - The Ibis - an aqua plane that could use runways or waterways to take off and land . It was different as it had 2 engines , in line , one pushing , the other pulling . The propeller from the front engine would have been just above the pilots head , luckily there was a glass panel above your head . 

 Then there’s the Sopwith Puss Moth plane , similar to the one he died in when he crashed into mountains in Italy .

 After that we looked through his house , all set up in the era . 

 From here we walked down to the lake and along the boardwalks running across it , then around to another lake and a Japanese inspired garden section .

Next to the Japanese Garden is Fairymead House , which has information about the sugarcane industry here - we missed seeing inside as it was getting late in the day , so we continued going around the lake to get back to the ute . 

 Friday was chill day , trying to organise the new phone . Saturday was golf and some chores to complete , getting ready for a change in location . Golf finished better than it started , opposite to last week - funny game !!  Back home and time to load the kayak & bikes ready for tomorrow .

 Sunday arrives after another cool night , packing and hitching up in no real rush , we left Bundaberg at 10am , heading north , we stayed off the highway till Miriam Vale . It has some lovely old style buildings and a playground kids would love , 2 covered twisting slippery dips about 10metres above the ground , covered play areas and climbing nets , etc , etc - it looked awesome - if only I was a little bit younger hahaha .

  Heading up the busy Bruce Hwy , we pulled off at Benaraby and headed out to Lake Awoonga - we’d promised ourselves we’d come back here & stay years ago - so here we are today !! 

 Set up , we then went for a drive around to revisit the area around the edge of the lake - it’s a serious fishing spot for barramundi - the minimum size you can keep has to be 120cm and ther’s a bag limit of 1 per person !!! That’s a very large fish !!!

 We stopped at Castle Rock Lookout , many trees are now growing up and starting to block the view , but you can still see castle rock across the other side of the lake .

 At the lookout we found a few Bat’s Wing Coral Trees - very obvious why they are called this - we haven’t seen any for about 9 years , they also have a thorny trunk & branches .

 Checking out the spillway & wall , boat ramps and picnic areas . They have done the picnic areas beautifully , there are individual sheltered picnic shelters all around the place , there are walking trails and Bbq’s - it’s a beautiful spot !! 

  That’s it , here’s a map link :- https://drive.google.com/open?id=1hAM0sypaphyxOZSOBzli3iiFbyo&usp=sharing